Quote:
Originally Posted by 10023
San Francisco is anything but the average American city.
Most American cities, particularly midsize ones, are basically ghost towns. A city of 200k in Europe has a lively city center, bustling restaurants, shopping streets, cultural venues and parks. In the same size city in America, the only crowded places are probably the Wal-Mart parking lot and the big street with all the drive-thrus.
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Thank you.
See some understood where I was going. Notable exceptions, but a lot of American cities are lacking in pedestrian density. Again, the suburbs, lower density, city limit size, and the sprawled out nature lead to this.
If we think of SF or NYC or even parts of Chicago (just to name a few, there are more) as the standard to what every U.S. city is really like, you might be disappointed. Again, some exceptions, but it holds water I feel.
With regards to Europe, I have seen cities that have 100k that feel much larger, and the streets are livelier. Not to be a Europe vs U.S. thing, but European cities have a lot more going on compared to your average small U.S. city; sometimes medium sized as well. Density has a big role in it, along with the way it was designed. Much of the U.S. sprawls, and this really takes a bite of what cities could in theory be. Much livelier.
I will defend the fact that the suburbs have become areas where one can work, live, and play. Some people never have to set foot in a city. A harsh truth, but it can be seen in every state.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crawford
Let's be real, downtown Cleveland is pretty dead. No way is a European city of 3 million remotely similar.
You're showing a picture of a nightlife block near the stadia, probably on a weekend night, after a game or event. I've been to that block, right off Euclid. I bet two blocks away there isn't a soul in sight.
An equivalent sized European city would have like five downtown department stores, robust subway system, high streets packed during daylight hours, huge main train station, etc.
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Its true.
One country that I have been too a lot is Spain, and some cities feel massive, yet they only have 400 to 800k people. Even 100k sometimes feels way bigger than it really is on paper.